Twitter will allow employees to work from home ‘forever’

For those of its workers who are flourishing while conducting meetings on Zoom with a child on their laps and a cat next to the keyboard, social media giant Twitter announced on May 12 that it plans to let anyone who wishes to work from home to do so for the foreseeable future—even after its offices reopen in a post-pandemic world, ABC News reports.

The past few months of having staff almost entirely remote “have proven we can make it work,” the statement continued. “So if our employees are in a role and situation that enables them to work from home and they want to continue to do so forever, we will make that happen. If not, our offices will be their warm and welcoming selves, with some additional precautions, when we feel it’s safe to return.”

“We’re proud of the early action we took to protect the health of our employees and our communities,” Twitter said. “That will remain our top priority as we work through the unknowns of the coming months.”

In early March, Home Run Inn—the official pizza of the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field— began building up its inventory of frozen pizza at its southwest suburban Chicago plant, as the COVID-19 pandemic began to hit home.

The company closed the plant for a day on April 6 after two employees tested positive for COVID-19. When it reopened, new protections were implemented including mandatory masks, increased cleaning schedules, and social distancing in the break rooms. Plant workers received a $2 an hour pay boost and an increase in the number of sick days.

In some cases, line workers are closer than 6 feet, but the protective measures generally have been successful, with seven cases of COVID-19 across the company and none since late April, Perrino said.

Manufacturing was backed down to a six-day-a-week schedule in April, when it became clear the new normal in the pizza business may last for a while and the grueling schedule was unsustainable, Perrino said. Demand has flattened in recent weeks, enabling Home Run Inn to resume production on some of its specialty pizzas, such as its classic sausage margherita.

While Illinois and other states are beginning to reopen for business, Perrino said the shift to frozen pizza may endure for some time, as consumers remain wary of venturing beyond their freezer for a sausage and pepperoni pie.

“Habits have changed, ” Perrino said. “Times are uncertain, the economy is uncertain. But one thing we do know is that people always need to eat.”

They’re thriving whether they’re in car-dominated cities like Houston and Los Angeles or in more traditional biking areas like Portland, Oregon, New York City, and Washington D.C. Keeping enough bikes in stock, and finishing repairs in a timely manner, has become a challenge. Customers are being turned way, in some cases.

Garfield Cooper, owner of ZenCog Bicycle Company in Jacksonville, Florida, has extra mechanics working to try to keep up with a repair backlog. Repairs that usually are done in 24 hours now require up to a month. Cooper, like Attayi, said he hadn’t had a day off since February.

While his sales usually decline in the summer months with increased heat and humidity, Cooper said he hasn’t seen a lag in business yet.

Bike shop owners are also wondering how long the current boom will last. Some said customers were more interested in biking because with less car traffic, roads felt safer. Their interest may wane as traffic returns. But some cities have begun to reallocate street space to bike lanes, which could lead to more biking in the long term. Roughly 400 miles of protected bike lanes have been built in the US in the last decade, according to the advocacy group People for Bikes.

“Then those companies didn’t sell a lot of computers for a few years because everyone already had one,” Koopman said. “That’s the big question. Is this a one-time thing or is it something sustainable?”

Nugg Club, which is now available in Los Angeles and Orange County (pot has been legal for recreational use since 2016 in California), is owned by parent company NuggMD; which claims to be the nation’s leading cannabis-focused telemedicine platform, with 600,000 patients served.

Each box will cost $99 and contain five to seven products valued at just about $250, according to the company. That price is a lot more expensive than the shop-by-mail containers from Iipsy or BirchBox—but is in line with what most millennials spend at a dispensary, Forbes reports.

According to Headset, an analytics service for the cannabis industry, the average basket in California is $68.70 for a little over two items per basket. Through Nugg Club, the customer is effectively receiving five to seven products for the price of three.

Like other subscription services, the boxes are highly personalized. Customers can select the type of product(s) and strain(s) they want to receive in their box with each month’s selection improving based on their feedback. Not the biggest fan of a particular vape flavor? Leave a comment and never see it again. Still have full products a month after the initial box? Deliveries are available every one, two or three months, Forbes notes.

The new Nugg Club cannabis subscription is participating in a market that grew 890% from April 2014 to 2018, and continues to grow. Around 54% of online shoppers say they are members of a subscription box service. Subscription service customers are more likely to be younger Millennials living in college towns or “hipster” areas, two common characteristics of cannabis consumers. According to Headset, millennials alone contribute to roughly 52% of all cannabis sales in the United States.

This type of service adheres directly to aspects of human psychology – a desire for services that are convenient and bring unique products and experiences into our lives. The simple act of opening a delivery ignites the euphoria and excitement of discovering something new. The consumer doesn’t always know what they are going to find, but it’s always a novel product, and that alone is a huge factor in the success of subscription services. That’s probably part of the reason over half of the subscription market is “subscribe for curation” where consumers are surprised by a variety of different items.

As the box goes to launch, Nugg Club is being mindful that we are in the midst of a pandemic. In response to recent studies that report an uptick in depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms among healthcare professionals treating COVID-19 patients, Nugg Club is offering a limited quantity of $1 boxes to qualifying workers.

On Tuesday, June 2—the day after President Donald Trump authorized police to use tear gas and rubber bullets on passive protesters outside the White House so that he could walk unobstructed to a nearby church for a photo op—United Steelworkers (USW) International President Tom Conway issued a statement, deploring those actions and the POTUS’s ongoing threats of military force.

Conway’s statement also was issued in support of the protesters, in Washington, D.C. and nationwide, who were reacting to the alleged murder of George Floyd, a black man who died after he was pinned at the neck by white Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin last week.

“Our nation continues to be torn apart as a result of the persistent, unlawful and unchecked violence against people of color. Now our president finally decided to leave the safety of his White House bunker and address the nation in person instead of through his Twitter account.

“Yet rather than choosing to de-escalate the tensions or deliver a message of unity that recognizes the nation’s pain about the ongoing racism and victimization of our fellow citizens at the hands of the police, he instead decided to fan the flames.

“The history of our union is filled with similar incidents of guardsmen and police forces being used against workers. It’s not a far stretch to envision expanded use of the military against today’s labor movement if we stand by while it happens against these protesters.

The USW represents 850,000 workers in North America employed in many industries that include metals, rubber, chemicals, paper, oil refining and health care as well as in the service and public sectors.

Even before the alleged murder of George Floyd by Police Officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis—videotaped by a bystander and viewed by millions of Americans and foreign nationals—and the immediate coalescence of “Black Lives Matter” demonstrators in urban centers nationwide; the foundation notes, the COVID-19 pandemic had laid bare “the crisis of inequality and created new urgency to fix it.”

Indeed, yhe first group of Ford Global Fellows represents a broad range of backgrounds, fields, and approaches to addressing inequality—with areas of focus that range from restoring voting rights for formerly incarcerated people, to advancing LGBTQ+ rights, to increasing political and economic power of people with disabilities, and more.

The Ford Global Fellowship program will be led by Adria Goodson, a recognized leader with a proven track record in the design and stewardship of fellowship programs. From 2005 to 2015, she was the founding director of Hunt Alternatives’ Prime Movers fellowship program, a program that supports social movement leaders in the United States. She has a PhD from Boston College in Sociology, specializing in social movement theory, public policy, and philanthropy; and before coming to Ford, was the chief program officer for the Pahara Institute, a nationally recognized non-profit that supports leaders reimagining public education.

“This fellowship will support visionaries in the fight against social, political, and economic inequality with the proven power of group learning,” saidFord Global Fellowship Program Director Adria Goodson. “These individuals lead unique efforts to create systemic change in their communities, but many of them have also taken action to immediately assist vulnerable communities hit hard by COVID-19. This group of leaders deserves immense credit, recognition, and support for their trailblazing work, and I look forward to working with each of them to assess and tackle unique challenges in their regions.”

The program curriculum, which focuses simultaneously on individualized and group learning, is being created in partnership with the Institute of International Education. The 24 Ford Global Fellows begin participation this week, with a multi-day virtual convening to launch the program.

Additional convenings will take place, either virtually or in various regions if safe and appropriate, over the course of the 18-month program. Each fellow will receive funding and resources to develop and pursue an Individualized Learning Plan to advance their own leadership development. They also each will receive a no-strings-attached $25,000 stipend.

The as-yet-to-be-named candy—slated to be the first released under the Whatchamacallit brand in ten years—will be made up of layers of chocolate rice crisps and peanut butter crème, and covered in chocolate.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey doesn’t scare easily—even when confronted by a raging U.S. president who is threatening to sign a vindictive executive order—meant to hobble Dorsey’s ability to monitor his own platform and correct deceptive posts.

The first reaction of the POTUS, according to the news outlet, was to try to bully the site by threatening to close down social-media companies that he thinks “show bias” against conservatives—and it was reported late Wednesday, May 27, that he planned to sign an executive order intended to remove important legal protections from sites like Twitter and Facebook.

During the pandemic, America’s “TV Generation” has stretched to encompass ages one through 100; Democrats, Independents, and Republicans; cat and dog lovers, married couples, families, and single dwellers—all of us streaming cable television nearly 24/7.

Now there’s new content from another major provider (as if we needed it).

WarnerMedia’s streaming platform, HBO Max, officially launched on May 27—featuring a streaming bundled curated from 100 years of what the company calls its own “iconic and beloved content;” as well new Max Originals; fan-favorite acquired franchises; and films.

The HBO NOW app automatically will update to the HBO Max app on supported devices. The service is available to others for $14.99 a month. For a full list of providers, please clickhere. To explore all the ways to get HBO Max, visit: www.hbomax.com/ways-to-get

“Today we are proud to introduce HBO Max—a dream that was created and nurtured by an incredible team of talented executives who dedicated the last year-and-a-half to making it a reality for consumers nationwide,” said Bob Greenblatt, chairman of WarnerMedia Entertainment and Direct-to-Consumer, in a press release. “However, this is just the beginning of our journey. We will continue to innovate and evolve this one-of-a-kind platform that brings together beloved programming from across the WarnerMedia family and around the world, while also paving the way for the creative voices of tomorrow.”

HBO’s summer premieres also will be available on the platform at the same time that they debut on the HBO service, includingI May Destroy You on June 7;Perry Mason, starring Emmy winner Matthew Rhys, on June 21; and the six-part documentary seriesI’ll Be Gone in the Darkon June 28.

Highlights of the extensive WarnerMedia portfolio of library programming available immediately include the entire Friends library; the first season of TNT’sThe Alienist; the first four seasons of truTV’s Impractical Jokers; as well as the libraries of The Big Bang Theory, Rick and Morty, Robot Chicken, The Boondocks, The Bachelor, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air; CW shows such as Batwoman, Nancy Drew, and Katy Keene; The O.C.; Pretty Little Liars; the CNN catalog of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown;and more. Soon, the platform offering will continue to grow—adding the libraries of Gossip Girl, The West Wing,and more within the first year of launch.

In addition, HBO Max will offer third-party acquisitions including Doctor Who (seasons 1-11 and the next three seasons); the U.S. premieres of Trigonometry and The Office; and seasons 17-25 of Top Gear—all as part of the previously announced deal with BBC Studios.

HBO Max will also premiere the 51st season of Sesame Streetthis year.

Finally, HBO Max will feature a library of more than 2,000 films within the first year. For more information on HBO Max, visitHBOMax.com

Then the COVID-19 crisis hit, a national toilet paper frenzy set in—and demand went through the roof, Forbes reports.

How did it happen? Consumers unable to find TP on store shelves started desperately searching the Internet for alternatives. In the process, they stumbled upon No. 2, which is sold on the company’s website and through Amazon at a price of $39 for a carton of 24 rolls.

Nessel also cited the size of Michigan’s coronavirus outbreak (53,000 cases, nearly 5,000 deaths) and Trump’s recent exposure to White House staffers who tested positive for the virus as reasons for the president to wear a mask.

A Ford spokesperson said on Tuesday, May 19, that the company requires masks on its premises, but added “the White House has its own safety and testing policies in place and will make its own determination,” leaving the door open as to whether Trump would wear a face covering.